The boss of the French company that owns Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port car plant, has warned that thousands of jobs could be at risk if future trading relations between Britain and the European Union are not resolved quickly, according to Mirror Online

Speaking in an interview with the BBC given at the Geneva Motor Show, Carlos Tavares, chief executive of PSA, said: “We cannot invest in a world of uncertainty.

“No one is going to make huge investments without knowing what will be the final competitiveness of the Brexit outcome.”

PSA, which makes Peugeot and Citroen cars, bought Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall last year when it acquired General Motors’ struggling European arm.

Mr Tavares added: “This is not a problem for the PSA Group, this is a problem for the whole UK automotive industry.”

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The warning comes two months after Vauxhall confirmed plans to axe another 250 workers at its Ellesmere Port plant. That was on top of 400 redundancies at the Cheshire factory, which produces the Astra, announced late last year. Once all of these job cuts are implemented, there will be around 1,200 workers at the Astra factory.

PSA has pledged to continue making the current seventh generation Astra at Ellesmere Port until 2021 and the Vivaro van at Luton until 2025, but there are concerns about what happens after that.

Carlos Tavares speaks during the Peugeot press conference as part of the 87th Geneva International Motor Show on March 7, 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “Our Vauxhall plants are among the most productive in the PSA family, and the products our members make are among the most popular vehicles in the country.

“PSA has every reason to invest in the UK and Unite is working day and night to ensure that this is understood.